


Goodbye, Mr. Baggins

by rabbityone



Category: The Hobbit (2012), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Businessman!Thorin, M/M, Modern Middle Earth, Teacher!Bilbo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-23
Updated: 2013-02-23
Packaged: 2017-12-03 08:26:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/696281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rabbityone/pseuds/rabbityone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Bilbo Baggins asked to see Kili Durinson's uncle to discuss his failing grade in Common, he wasn't expecting to be joining his student on a family holiday. What follows will change him in more ways than one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Thorin looked down at the piece of paper in his hand, fighting back the scowl that threatened to cross his features. To his credit, Kili was looking anywhere but at his uncle all the while he was reading the paper. Fili was standing at the back of the room, leaning back against the wall. He looked incredibly nonchalant as he played on his smart phone, although anyone who knew him could recognise this as an attempt to hide his nervousness. Gandalf was sitting in his usual spot by the fire, reading the paper. Thorin looked up from the letter in his hands, clearing his throat before speaking.

“What is this?” Kili glanced up nervously, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to formulate a coherent response to the question. He looked almost close to a response before he closed his mouth again.

“It’s a letter from Kili’s teacher. He wants to speak to you about Kili’s grades,” came Fili’s voice from the back of the room. Kili closed his mouth, throwing a glare at his older brother before going back to glaring at the carpet. Thorin sighed heavily, running a hand over his face. What on earth had Dis been thinking, naming him as guardian of her two sons? He had no idea how to be a father, least of all to boys like Kili and Fili. He was just thankful Fili was at university now… and Kili would soon be finishing school to… well Thorin wasn’t sure what Kili was planning to do with himself. This wasn’t like ancient times when a dwarf lad of Kili’s lineage could become a great warrior and go on quests. Had Kili been alive back then, Thorin knew his youngest nephew would be one of the great heroes of his age. In these modern times? Thorin wasn’t sure. The lad was bright, that much he was sure of, but he lacked focus. The loss of their dear mother had been hard on the boys, Kili more so than Fili. Thorin wished he could be more supportive… but there was still so much to be done before their trip to Erebor. That vile worm of a man Sorrel Maugerov was attempting to take over the company again. If they lost this court case, his grandfather’s company Arkestone Unlimited would pass into that serpent’s hands. Thorin sighed, glancing at Gandalf.

“Can you handle this?” he asked. Kili looked both relieved and disappointed. Gandalf glanced up from his paper, a slight twinkle in his eye.

“Are you sure about this, Thorin?” the elderly wizard asked. Thorin rolled his eyes.

“I’m sure. Do whatever you feel is necessary. Make sure Kili can come with us to Erebor,” he replied. Gandalf simply nodded in reply, returning to his paper with one of his trademark smiles. Thorin should have remembered that that smile meant nothing good. He waved his hand, dismissing his nephews. Fili pushed away from the wall, walking past Kili and nudging him. Kili glared at his brother, slowly getting to his feet. He slouched out of the room, following his brother. Thorin sighed, turning back to the papers at hand. Now… where was he?

The two brothers walked through the halls of their uncle’s house. Well… technically it was their father’s house, but since neither of the brothers were old enough to come into their inheritance their uncle automatically gained control of it until the boys came of age. Fili would turn twenty-one two years from now and then the house would, in part, pass back to them. It wouldn’t fully be theirs until Kili turned twenty-one. Despite the fact that Uncle Thorin wasn’t going to be present for the awful parent-teacher (or in this case guardian-teacher) conference, Kili still felt terrible. He couldn’t even manage a grin when Fili nudged him again. He barely noticed his brother’s eyeroll before being pulled into a headlock. 

“Oy! Getoff!” Kili grumbled, struggling against his brother’s grip. Fili chuckled, ruffling his younger brother’s hair. Kili continued to struggle, chuckling despite himself. He elbowed Fili in the gut, pulling away when Fili’s grip loosened, punching his brother in arm lightly. The two teenagers careened down the hall, their laughter echoing down the halls. Kili got to the door of his room first, letting out a joyful whoop.

“You cheated!” Fili complained, leaning back against his door. Kili grinned widely.

“It’s not my fault you’ve gotten slow since you started that fancy university course,” he retorted, poking his tongue out at Fili. He rolled his eyes, reaching over to ruffle his little brother’s hair.

“I totally let you win, squirt.” Kili swatted his brother’s hand away, chuckling softly. Fili grinned, offering a small wave before opening the door of his room and slipping inside. Kili returned the wave before entering his own room. Although he wasn't as worried about the inevitable meeting at school as he had been earlier in the evening, he still wasn’t looking forward to the conversation that would occur. He wasn’t entirely sure if he was happy it was Gandalf attending the meeting instead of his uncle. While Gandalf was less likely to give the young dwarf this guilt inducing disappointed face his uncle had perfected over the few short years he had been looking after the boys, Gandalf was more likely to ask all sorts of awkward questions about certain things. There were a few things Kili would rather no one in the house ever found out.

Like his attraction to a certain young dwarf in his class…


	2. Above and Beyond

Bilbo Baggins, as a teacher, wasn’t supposed to play favourites. According to Pricipal Halfelven, teachers were expected to be impartial in their treatment of students. Of course, this was seen as more of a guideline and most teachers at the Imladris Academy could easily name a few students they considered their favourites. For Bilbo, that list was made up of a singular student; a dwarfish lad by the name of Kili Durinson. He wasn’t entirely sure _why_ Kili was his favourite. The lad wasn’t the brightest in the class (if he just _focused_ , maybe he could be), but he had a certain charm about him that made it almost impossible not to like him. The general theory around the staff-room was that Kili was actually part-puppy. Bilbo liked to think it was the boy’s natural charm and charisma, although the puppy thing actually made a lot of sense. Kili was certainly doing a fine impression of a kicked puppy now, sitting at his desk as the bell rang at the end of the final period. It was happy chance that the day of Kili’s parent-teacher meeting was on the only day Bilbo had Kili’s class for Common last period. Bilbo offered the lad a small smile, packing up his papers and calling farewells to those students who offered them. Kili slouched low in his seat, toying with a pen while the rest of the class filed out. His long hair was starting to escape from the pony-tail it had been pulled back into, dark strands falling into the boy’s eyes. Most dwarf boys these days kept their hair and beards short, but Kili came from (as he said) a ‘traditional’ family, so he kept his hair long and refrained from growing a beard due to Pricipal Halfelven cracking down on facial hair amongst the students. He only managed a small smile when Ori sat down in the seat next to Kili’s, biting his lip nervously.

“You know I can just call my brothers and tell them not to expect me until later if you need me,” he said, lowering his voice in an attempt to keep Bilbo from overhearing. Bilbo pretended to be very interested in reading over the classwork that had been handed up to him, trying not to pay attention to what was going on between the boys. Bilbo didn’t have to look up to hear the Kili was smiling when the boy spoke next.

“Thanks, Ori, but you don’t need to get in trouble with the bro-rents because of me,” he said. Ori scoffed and Bilbo suspected there would have been a kiss somewhere in there if he wasn’t there. While they had no problem being open about their romance at school, apparently neither of their families knew… so the boys tried to avoid being obviously couple-y in front of the teachers. Bilbo didn’t have the heart to let slip that not only did the teachers actually know about their supposedly forbidden romance, but they also had a petting pool going to see when the boys respective families would cotton in.

“Call me, alright? I want to know everything that happens,” Ori ordered, and this time Bilbo did hear the sound of a soft kiss glancing up briefly to see the boy getting to his feet. He offered Bilbo a wave before departing the classroom, wrapping one of his numerous knitted scarves around his neck. Kili went back to playing with his pen, staring broodingly at the top of his desk. Bilbo opened his mouth to make idle conversation when an older gentleman in a grey suit walked through the classroom door. He was quite tall, his hair and beard close cropped neat just like his suit. His blue eyes seemed to sparkle and for a moment the hobbit had the strangest feeling that he’d met this man before. Bilbo wasn’t sure what he had expected when he asked to see Kili’s uncle… but this was not it. Weren’t the Durinson’s supposed to be a ‘traditional’ dwarf family? Wouldn’t Kili’s uncle have the traditional long hair and beard like all those older dwarves Bilbo saw playing chess in the parks? He stood up hurriedly, holding out his hand as the old man approached.

“Thank you for coming in Mr Durinson, I’m Bilbo Baggins… Kili’s Common teacher,” he said, feeling a little foolish for a stating the obvious. Instead of taking his hand, the old man chuckled softly, a small smile quirking his lips.

“Bilbo Baggins, you really haven’t changed a bit. And to think you promised you’d never forget me…” the old man chastised. Bilbo frowned, narrowing his eyes slightly. It was trued that he had trouble remembering people’s names if he didn’t see them on a daily basis, but he liked to think he was better than that. Besides, the only person he’d ever actively promised to never forget was his old babysitter and as Bilbo recalled he had much longer hair… 

“Gadalf Greyhame? My word, I didn’t recognise you without the hair and that awful hat…” Bilbo said, feeling more than a little foolish for not recognising the older man. The wizard had been an old friend of his mother’s and Bilbo could recall many an afternoon spent with Gandalf while his parents worked. Bilbo had been fifteen when the wizard announced he was going to law school and he only saw him periodically until he’d turned twenty-one. Bilbo’s parents died that year, and the last time he’d seen Gandalf had been at his parent’s funeral. Wait… no, that wasn’t right. He’d come to Bilbo’s graduation ceremony when he finished his teaching degree. Bilbo smiled widely, coming around his desk to hug the man who he thought of as an adopted uncle. Gandalf returned the hug warmly, chuckling softly before releasing the hobbit. He only remembered what they were actually there for when he spotted Kili’s confused expression. Bilbo cleared his throat, blushing slightly with embarrassment. 

“Sorry, Kili. Mr Greyhame used to babysit me when I was a lad living in Hobbiton,” he explained, returning to sit behind his desk. Gandalf took a seat next to Kili, ignoring the lad’s obviously disbelieving expression. Bilbo remembered what is was like to be seventeen and to still believe adults didn’t have lives outside of being adults. He cleared his throat, turning his attention to Gandalf, although making sure to keep Kili involved in the conversation.

“Now, I was hoping to speak to Mr Durinson about Kili’s grades…” he began, flicking to the page in his mark book for Kili’s class. 

“Mr Durinson is very busy at present, he asked me to take care of this on his behalf,” Gandalf explained. Bilbo glanced up, eyebrow raised a little sceptically. He glanced at Kili, noticing how the boy seemed both relieved and a little annoyed at his uncle was unable to attend. Bilbo cleared his throat again, eyes flicking over the grades he’d recorded so far, before returning his attention to Kili and Gandalf.

“The thing is, based on his current grades, Kili won’t be able to graduate at the end of the year,” he said. Kili bit his lip, slouching a little when Gandalf threw him an expression the hobbit was uncomfortably familiar with. As a lad, Bilbo referred to as Gandalf’s “You’re Not Actually A Took You Know” face, although he’d amended it to his “I Expected Better Bilbo Baggins” face when he actually realised his Took cousins weren’t as foolish as his father always said. It certainly still seemed effective in making young lads squirm with embarrassment if Kili was anything to go by. Bilbo felt a wave sympathy for Kili, offering him a small smile before continuing.

“Thankfully, it’s only half way through second term and if Kili promises to work hard for the rest of the year, I’m certain he can become one of the top students in this class,” Bilbo continued. Kili wasn’t stupid, but all of his teachers complained that he lacked focus. Bilbo switched his attention to Kili, catching the boy’s gaze.

“What are you planning to do when you graduate, lad?” he asked. Kili bit his lip, glancing nervously at Gandalf before shifting to sit properly in his chair again.

“I want to join the army, become the first dwarf to be a lieutenant in the Archery Corps,” the boy replied, blushing deeply. Bilbo smiled, sharing a small grin with Gandal before turning back to Kili.

“That’ll involve officers training, lad. You need excellent grades to even be considered, let alone actually get in,” Bilbo explained. Kili bit his lip. Clearly, he hadn’t put too much thought into this.

“Do you think I’ll be able to do it, Mr Baggins?” he asked.

“If you work hard for the rest of the year, yes. I’ll even work with you after school and during holidays to make sure you get your grades high enough to get in,” Bilbo assured him. Kili glanced at Gandalf, biting his lip.

“Even during mid-semester break next week?” Kili asked. Bilbo nodded.

“Even during mid-semester break. We can arrange a time to meet at my flat in Bree if you’d rather not come here during break,” he said. This didn’t seem to ease Kili’s worries, the boy looking to Gandalf nervously. The wizard was watching Bilbo closely, his expression unreadable as he spoke.

“And if Kili were unable to make it? What if he can’t come to your flat or to school for these sessions?” Gandalf asked. Although Bilbo was speaking to Gandalf, he kept his gaze on Kili.

“I will come to him. I’m determined to see him follow his dreams, no matter what I have to do,” he said. Kili grinned widely, returning to his usual bright and happy self. Gandalf was smiling too, although Bilbo had learnt long ago that nothing good came from those smiles. They left soon after, Kili practically bouncing after Gandalf as he nattered on about everything under the sun. Bilbo smiled to himself, gathering his things before sparing the classroom one last quick glance. Satisfied that everything was in order, Bilbo locked up, only stopping by his office to collect his coat before heading out to catch the bus to Bree. Rivendell, the suburb Imladris Academy was located in, was a good twenty-minutes from Bree, although Bilbo didn’t mind the commute. He’d moved to Bree when he got his first job at the local high school. When he’d got the job at Imladris, he’d remained in his apartment and just added a commute to his morning ritual. When asked why didn’t just move to Rivendell, Bilbo replied that he couldn’t afford even a small apartment in Rivendell even on the salary he got from Imladris Academy. Besides, he liked his little flat in Bree. It wasn’t quite his comfortable little hobbit hole back in Hobbiton, but it sufficed. When he finally arrived back in his apartment, Bilbo set about making himself dinner, his mind buzzing as he tried to plan his holiday tutoring sessions with Kili.

 

The next day, Bilbo was unable to get a hold of Kili to even begin to arrange their first tutoring session. He really shouldn’t have been surprised; the Friday before a holiday was always awkward and he suspected he’d receive a call from Mr Durinson at some point during the day about it. He did receive a call that day, although it was a rather cryptic one from Gandalf, stating that the wizard be arriving at his apartment early on Saturday morning and that he really should try to be awake and somewhat functioning. Bilbo ignored the message, more than half convinced that Gandalf had the wrong number (Bilbo was a common name dammit!) and that it had nothing to do with him. It was a pretty good day for a Friday and he found himself agreeing to join his colleagues for drinks after work. He was a little tipsy when he got back to his flat, but on the whole, it was a good night. When he went to bed that night, he expected to wake up mid-morning with no headache and a desire for greasy food. Instead, he woke up at a completely unreasonable time of the morning for a Saturday. Bilbo started awake at the sound of someone pounding on his door. He blinked blearily, glaring at the clock. It couldn’t possibly be six in the morning, there had to be something wrong with his clock. Six o’clock on Saturday morning just didn’t exist in Bilbo Baggins’ world. The knocking didn’t seem to go away, despite his best attempts to ignore it. Groaning, Bilbo got to his feet, pulling on his robe. He shuffled to the door, glaring through the peephole at… Gandalf. Opening the door, Bilbo fixed the old wizard with a glare that many of his students knew and feared. Gandalf, however, didn’t seem at all cowed. He merely smiled at Bilbo.

“My dear Bilbo, what are you still doing in your robe? I thought my message was most clear…” he said. Bilbo grumbled something that may or may not have involved several swear words, stepping back to let the irritating man in.

“What do you want Gandalf?” Bilbo demanded, yawning widely. 

“I want you to get dressed and packed for a week in Erebor,” Gandalf replied. Bilbo blinked in confusion.

“I… you… whaaat?” Not his most witty moment, but it was rather early in the morning. Gandalf just kept smiling that irritating smile of his. At this particular point, Bilbo wanted to slap that stupid smile of the wizard’s face. 

“You said you would come to Kili if he couldn’t make it to your tutoring sessions, did you not? Well, Kili is going to Erebor and you are going to him,” he explained. Bilbo blinked in confusion, taking a few moments to process what Gandalf had actually said. When he said he would ‘go to’ Kili, he’d meant holding the sessions at the lad’s house. He didn’t mean follow Kili to bloody Erebor on what he assumed was a family holiday. Before he could form a coherent thought, Gandalf was shuffling him back into his bedroom and shoving him into the bathroom with the order “Shower, or else”. Bilbo did as he was told, if only because he was too tired to argue properly. Almost to spite the wizard, Bilbo made sure to take his own sweet time. He rarely got to have a long luxurious shower during term, he was going to take the opportunity now. When he got out of the shower, he dried himself, wandering into his bedroom to change. Surprisingly enough, when he was properly dressed, Bilbo was less irritated about the early hour than he had previously been but no less awake and functional. While Bilbo had been in the shower, Gandalf had packed his bag for him. Any protests Bilbo might have had were quickly overruled as the wizard herded the hobbit out the door and into a waiting car. The drive to Bree train station was relatively short and Bilbo soon found himself deposited in front of the station while his bag was whisked off by someone who looked like a former student. Bilbo took a moment to try and make sense of this new world he found himself in, where everything happened far too quickly for him to even deal with.

“Come along Bilbo, we have a train to catch,” Gandalf set off at a brisk pace, leaving the confused hobbit to trail after him.

“Gandalf, I must insist that we at least stop for a moment and maybe, just maybe, entertain the thought of a nice cup of tea?” Bilbo snapped, trailing behind Gandalf irritably. The wizard ignored him, eventually coming to a stop in front of a sleek silver train. There were dwarves milling around on the platform, all dressed in similar uniforms that bore the same company logo: the runic designs of Durin’s Folk, the company that provided staff for any occasion. Bilbo was about to ask Gandalf if this was a public train or not when a familiar voice distracted him.

“Mr Baggins! You came!” cried Kili. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a loose t-shirt, his long hair flying about. Bilbo smiled at the boy, genuinely glad to see him.

“Of course I did Kili. I said I’d come to you, didn’t I?” he replied. Kili grinned in reply, grabbing his teacher’s hand and dragging him towards the train. 

“Come on, you’ll be in with me and Fili for the whole trip!”

“Fili and _I_ ,” Bilbo corrected automatically. 

This was not in his job description…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Things are getting interesting!


End file.
